CHICOPEE - Thanksgiving football presents its own set of challenges for teams - the emotion of playing against a fierce rival, the last regular-season game for the seniors, larger-than-normal crowds.

For South Hadley High School, there was yet another dimension to Thursday's game at Chicopee Comprehensive. The Tigers could extend their season with a victory and clinch a berth in the Western Massachusetts Division II playoff.

Dave RobackComp's (31) Trent Schieb gets pulled down with South Hadley's (36) Ben Desmarais and (55) James Chahade looking on in the backround during the annual Thanksgiving Day game between Chicopee Comprehensive High School and South Hadley High School. Photo gallery

Thanks to 138 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Ben Desmarais, South Hadley accomplished its task with a 28-0 victory over Comp in the first game at the Colts' sparkling, new Mitchell S. Kuzdzal Field.

South Hadley 28, Comp 0

South Hadley (7-3, 6-1) will take on Suburban League rival East Longmeadow in a playoff matchup at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Holyoke High School. The winner advances to a Western-Central Massachusetts Super Bowl Dec. 6.

"This is the best game, I think all year, coming out on Thanksgiving," Tigers quarterback Sam Belsk said. "It just feels good, especially on a new field like this, to come out in front of a lot of fans like this and play hard football."

The Tigers defeated the Colts (6-5, 4-3) for the fifth straight season, extending their series lead to 7-2 in what was once a nip-and-tuck rivalry upon its renewal in 2000. Winning the turnover battle proved crucial, as South Hadley picked off Comp quarterback Jesse Warren three times and scored on two of the ensuing drives.

Kyle Quatacker had the first pick a little more than four minutes into the game. Six plays later, Desmarais ran it in from eight yards out to get the Tigers on top. Brad Bell made it 14-0 on a 2-yard screen pass from Sam Belsky just 92 seconds into the second quarter.

With only five seconds elapsed in the fourth quarter, Nick Mulveyhill punched it in from eight yards out. Desmarais capped the day with a 36-yard scamper with five minutes remaining.

"We have a really good line, so it really helps us with the middle game," said Desmarais, who got the bulk of his yards running between the tackles. "It's been working really good, so hopefully we'll keep it up."

South Hadley hopes to complete the season sweep of East Longmeadow (8-3, 6-1) after an early-season 47-6 drubbing. The Spartans knocked the Tigers out in last season's playoff.

"It's just like last year. They killed us the first game they played us, and it was a (good) game in the playoffs," Belsky said. "I'm sure everyone in Western Mass. knows that we're not that many points better than East Longmeadow, if any."

The game took on a somber note with 1:41 left in the first half. Comp's Trent Schieb was hit low by Mulveyhill and high by Belsky while attempting to catch a fourth-down pass at the South Hadley goal line. He lay face-down on the FieldTurf while being tended to by trainers and medical personnel, and the game was delayed 23 minutes. The good news came about an hour after the game, that Schieb was treated and released from Baystate Medical Center with just a mild concussion.

"No coach likes to see anyone get hurt, either the other team's guys or his own," Comp coach Marc Schuerfeld said after receiving the news of his player's condition.